The College Dropout

Top managers come out with BS all the time. Relatively few offer little excuse. Howe and Ancelotti spring to mind. Pep himself gives credit to opposition. But Klopp, Mourinho, Ferguson etc. talk a lot of crap

Think the slipping was less of a physical thing - Everton players weren’t slipping.

Would snap anyone’s hands off for £25m

Welbeck of today is way better than Wilson of today. Today’s Danny Welbeck is about a good a backup striker we could have.

Don’t remember it specifically but it was a nonsensical question. I’ve been on this forum 20 years.

He’ll not go to Real or Barca and if he does he’ll be found out. I don’t expect he’ll be high on the list of those clubs. Maybe Inzaghi could work his magic with him or Conte. I don’t expect him to leave for a European club because most elite clubs will know better.

He’s not good enough for Real or Barca. His all or nothing style of play wouldn’t translate well in an elite side as part of a team that he’s not the best player of. Loses the ball too much and can’t carry it.

Fernandes is a great player for a bad team. I’m not sure he’ll be great in a great team - unless he’s the main man. He would terrorise Serie A. But he’s not a Real or Barca player

Great run from Amad too. I’d like him here.

Timing is everything. If you had Salah instead the whole time you would’ve been fine. A lot will depend of pre season and prices. Reckon Isak will become a true premium at 10m+. Can see Isak being 11m and Haaland being 12m or 10.5

First person to give the new Champ a congrats on the forum. Top lad.

The Villa thing happened yesterday.

Nah. You might as well wait - just in case. It was bad refereeing

There was that Liverpool mistake that was similar in the ref blew too quickly and that went on for literally weeks.

Probably Slot. Had we finished second it would’ve been close.

For the last time - I’ve not said the team are ‘bottlers’. We just bottled a single game. The best teams and players sometimes lose their heads. City have bottled games in the CL - they are also serial winners, Man U have bottled games and league titles, they were also serial winners. bottling = the pressure causing you to not perform at your best. It happens to the best and it happened to us. It’s fine.

Interesting to see the players we attract we need to raise the technical floor but Howe ball works. We need to triple down on it.

Nah. Honestly management should be expected to communicate at least quarterly. Owners Managing Directors and the like get to hide behind mangers too much. Daniel Levy in particular. He’s the boss at Spurs and seems to say next to nothing publicly. That’s his entire club.

Aye. What you want to do in a game like that is enforce your game. But we were off it in the press. Then you want to at least PLAY - get thedown and do what you do. But we couldnt get that off either. With a higher technical floor. This will become easier to do. So will having a bigger squad where we can maintain better fitness levels. Yep. There’s no Gordon v Barnes debate. This new CL format means you really need a squad. ‘I just felt our desire to win and to do well was probably too great.’ Eddie Howe Loved Eddie’s interview after. He was fully honest and transparent - usually he’s guarded. He knows he’s done a wonderful job this season with a thin squad. Now he needs management to make it happen for him.

You’re making it personal and definitive to the team overall. They bottled yesterday, that doesn’t make them bottlers - I hope that makes sense. Losing your nerve once out of 6 occasions doesn’t make you a bottler. Holding your nerve 5 times proves that you aren’t. But equally, you did bottle it that one time. Man U 2012 bottled it. Nobody talks about it much because they are definitely not a team of bottlers but they did it that season. Truthfully we were in danger of bottling it against Chelsea. We got nervy.

Howe Pretty much said himself we weren’t right mentally yesterday - tried to force it too much considering the occasion. That’s a bottle job. Don’t want to labour that point. Great teams can bottle it sometimes and we’ve stood up when it counts so many times this season, think being favourites worked against us. But we have to be able to call a spade a spade. Thankfully things fell our way. And maybe Yasser would’ve realised some of the massive gaps in the squads quality and make sure Eddie is backed properly within the rules

It’s probably cope but we don’t need his type of character in the dressing room if rumours are to be believed.

They’ve been good without him when needed recently tbh.

I like Garnacho tbh. He’s just a bit selfish and not as good as he thinks

My memory fails me. It just remember thinking we should’ve won if not did the injuries but in retrospect we were never going to amount to anything under Souness. He was in the process of gutting Robsons side. He let Bellamy go on loan that January, Bellamy would’ve killed sporting. Think Bellamy ended the season our joint top scorer despite leaving in January.